Holidays & Quitting My Job

Appreciating the life moments during travel...

Hey Team!

Well, I’m coming to you from a very hot Air Asia flight from Sandakan to Kota Kinabalu in Borneo after being in the jungle spotting wildlife and LOVING some time without WIFI. Wow that sentence felt good to write!

My husband Dutch and I agreed early on in our relationship that our holidays should look and feel like a honeymoon each time we travel. While you might think this a lavish life decision, it’s less about luxury and more about experience. Admittedly it helps that he works in the travel industry, his work life is peppered with global recommendations! Lucky me!

I believe we live in the world, not a town or a singular place. I can’t understand why people don’t travel, for me the quest for newness is what gets me up in the morning. Why wouldn’t you want to experience something new? If the comfort zone is pushed open, then my mind will do so too.

At 21 I backpacked around Thailand for 6 weeks with my best friend Lucy. That trip woke something up in me, this desire to see the world. At 22 I flipped a coin at a house party, it landed on heads and I booked a one way ticket to Australia where I lived and worked for a year in Sydney. One of the main reasons I leant into spray tanning in the early part of my career was that it opened a whole new life where travel was part of the job description. You live in the world, so get out there and see it!

Time to open up, I feel like I’m finding a whole new groove since leaving Isle of Paradise (I’m SO grateful you’ve chosen to stay with me on this part of my journey!).

I took this photo after making my decision to exit IOP

I decided it was time to exit during our holiday in Mexico. Dutch and I drank a few beers at lunch and went back to our sun loungers with stomachs full of guacamole and chips. Dutch fell asleep and I felt restless so went for a walk alone along the beach. The sun shone down on the white sand, the sound of the surfer waves crashing against the beach, the smell of coconut sun cream on my skin. I stopped and stared at the ocean. I didn’t feel free. My gut told me it was time, that trip opened something in me and delivered the true purpose of a holiday.

Whatever line of work you’re in, deciding to leave your job isn’t easy. You know you’re going to stop speaking to your work friends every day, it’s a huge change in your routine and if like me you leapt with nothing really to move onto, it’s incredibly daunting and exciting at the same time.

I knew I needed to move away and open my wings. I decided 2025 was going to be my year where the wings unclip and open. I don’t know what’s going to happen, I don’t know what my open wings are going to feel or look like but sod it I’m doing it! I’m consciously going on a journey of self-discovery. As I wrote The Confidence Ritual, I realised a huge part of my life had been unlocked, I’d learnt to finally love who I was. I’m SO excited for you to read it btw!!

During our stay in the jungle in Borneo, we took a boat down the Black River listening to the beat of howling monkeys and clicking insects, the dark water seemed so thick, it barely rippled as the boat cruised through it. In that moment I felt part of my inner soul come alive again. Something surfaced. I can feel myself letting go of someone I became. It feels oh so good!

The Black River in the Borneo jungle made me feel ALIVE

I hear the use of the word ‘noise’ to describe a lot of society. Social media can be full of the same types of trips – Ibiza, Santorini, Paris, New York – all great places – but the same ‘noise’. The noise of those trips can feel a bit like living on autopilot. You’re experiencing something that’s the ‘in thing’ to experience. This jungle noise was different, I felt a new sound. I was truly present, surrounded by incredible nature and disconnected from the world. It felt amazing! Like I’d slipped through a side door into another reality.

Have you had trips or experiences like this? Do you feel inspired to book a similar trip? Should I write about ‘noise’? Let me know in the comments!

Love Always XX Jules